Why and to what extent did ONE ‘challenge to order’ achieve success,

as measured by its own aims and its orientation in time in space?

Ivan Lee Y9 Peace

The word ‘revolution’ in the 20th century usually means people wanting change
either by trying to overthrow the government or to forcefully change the laws.
Equality, Justice, and Satisfaction are three key factors that are required in a
revolution in order to be successful. However, the women's revolution in the 20th
century failed to fulfill those requirements. In this essay, it discusses this
controversial topic and looks at how the women's revolution achieved success
measured by its own aim. This essay argues that the suffragette movement can be
seen as a success to a great extent as the suffragette movement did attract the
public's attention and has proven to the public numerous times to why women
deserve the same right as men.

The women’s suffrage movement first began in the late 19th century and ended in
the early 20th century. This revolution was between the women of society and the
men of society. During the time of the revolution, the women’s felt that they were
being isolated from their freedom and that they have no rights at all. Women's
were not allowed to have their own bank accounts, not allowed to vote, does not
have a say in their OWN children and most importantly are often abused by men.
This rigged system and the continuous abuse lasted for decades and nothing has
been done until the women’s themselves has decided to rise up to the government.
There are two types of fractions to this suffrage movement. The first fraction is
known as the “Suffragettes”, they are women who tend to use violence to achieve
their equal rights. Another faction is known as the “Suffragists”, they are women
who prefer to advocate peaceful protests to achieve their equal rights. The
“Suffragettes” can be seen to be taking a more direct and violent approach and the
“Suffragists” can be seen to be taking a more peaceful but indirect approach. The
original motivation behind the women’s suffrage movement was to achieve equal
rights for women and to be viewed the same as men. At the time of writing this
essay, women’s does indeed have the same rights as men's. However, it is debatable
on whether the suffrage movement or the World War contributed more to this
revolutionary change.

To continue my point as to why the suffragette movement was a success to a great

extent, the suffragette movement can be seen successful in raising awareness of
their cause and gaining support from the public, thus contributing to the women’s
revolution. In 1913, a hero and martyr known as Emily Wilding Davison sacrificed
her life by dashing towards the course and was run down by the King’s horse. She
was a very committed member of the suffragette movement and was willing to
sacrifice her life for the cause. Even though it is said that she did not mean to
die, she was willing to take the risk and should always be remembered as a martyr.
Another example of perseverance shown in the suffrage movement can be seen when a
suffragette by the name of Marion Wallace Dunlop decided to go on a hunger strike.
She was the first ever suffragette to go on hunger strike after she was arrested
for militancy. She was violently force-fed in prison and was later released. It
was because of her, the British government made it legal to force feed in prisons.
The sacrifice of Emily Davison and Marion Dunlop certainly touched many people and
it inevitably showed the world that the suffrage movement is no laughing matter.
The persistence and determination shown in the suffragette movement was a
paramount importance. Not only did this gain public attention, but it also allowed
women’s gaining equal rights.

Furthermore, the World War can be seen to have allowed women’s to take the jobs of
men and an opportunity to show what they are competent of, hence shows the male
hierarchy as to why women’s deserves to possess the same rights as men. In 1914,
England declared war on Germany and millions of British men are obliged to fight
in the war. During this period, women’s took over the jobs of men and has proven
that they could do the same jobs as men in factories, offices and on land. The
women's employment rate has also increased during WWI. Not to mention, women were
also granted rights to work in banks in which they were never allowed to manage
before. The leader of the suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst, can be seen as a big
influence to their immense success in the war as she has decided to postpone their
violent protest in support of their beloved country. It was the critical decision
in which the suffragettes made to disengage their violent protest from WWI
extremely important. Not only did this help the country in winning the war, but it
has also proven to the people that women are equally the same as men and deserves
to have the same priorities.

Despite all this, some may argue that the suffragette movement was mostly negative
and some of their actions were too extreme. This is likely due to the smashing
windows and explosives that were set off before the World War. There’s no doubt
that the World War was the main turning point to this unprecedented change however
without the help of the suffragettes, women are not likely to gain their equal
right in a much longer time. As mentioned before, it was due to the significant
decisions and progress made by the suffragettes that caught the public’s attention
and respect. Even though the suffragettes did bring harm to the people, their
actions should be forgiven as they play a big part in gaining equal rights for
women.

In conclusion, based on how effective the World War was to the women’s revolution,
the suffragette movement can be seen to be a success to a great extent, as their
actions paid off. All the wrongs the suffrage movement has caused to the people,
all the unthinkable things they’ve done, formed short and long-term causes in all
women but it's not all necessarily bad. Thus, it can be argued that the suffrage
movement was a success to a great extent

Word Count: 1033 words

 Works Cited

“Striking Women.” World War II: 1939-1945 | Striking Women, www.striking-

women.org/module/women-and-work/world-war-i-1914-1918. Accessed 19. Nov. 2018.

Vickery, Amanda. “Did the Suffragettes Win Women the Vote?” BBC, BBC,
www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zt3wmnb. Accessed 19. Nov. 2018.

“Women's Suffrage Timeline.” The British Library, The British Library, 16 Aug.
2017, www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/womens-suffrage-timeline. Accessed 19.
Nov. 2018.